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The Daily Telegraph

Author: Vikki Campion / October 13, 2010 12:00am

Drivers, caught out in parking and traffic infringements, are the state’s cash cows.

Parking tickets account for $1 billion income in the six years to June. Red light cameras earned $93.9 million and speed cameras $352 million.

Every day 3620 motorists get a parking fine, Office of State Revenue figures reveal.

NRMA president Wendy Machin said the fines were getting harder to cop as an increasingly cynical motoring community could not see the penalty matching the mistake.

“Motorists don’t mind paying a fair price for doing the wrong thing but they are getting sick of what they see is blatant revenue raising,” she said. “There would be some greater acceptance of fines if the money could be seen to be used for relevant purposes, such as improved facilities or fixing local roads.”

Overstaying in a parking space comes with an average $114 price tag.

The fine increase means councils took $158.2 million in the year to June, compared with $105 million in 2003/04 even though only an extra 160,000 people were booked.

In 03/04 they made $105.2 million from 1.2 million parking fines. In 09/10 it was $158.2 million from 1.3 million fines.

Councils yesterday said parking revenue ended up in their general budgets, with money being spent on facilities ranging from playgrounds to libraries and bike paths.

Local Government Association president Genia McCaffery said fine revenue was critical to repair roads and build communities.

“They are used to make local traffic facilities and roads that we rely on,” she said.

“We have been given the job to manage parking, we are doing it properly. Councils are facing larger and larger populations, trying to manage a shrinking resource and it’s difficult. The State Government is not doing its job in providing public transport.

“Nobody likes getting a fine but if you park illegally that is the risk to be run.”

Ms Machin urged councils to follow Parramatta Council’s example and establish a panel to contest fines.

A spokeswoman for Roads Minister David Borger said parking fines moved with CPI.

“Councils have massively stepped up enforcement of parking fines,” she said.

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